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Above & below: Fraggin' bots and measuring frames per second with the Quaver Q3A timedemo | |
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| OVERCLOCKING PERFORMANCE IMPACT: |
To give a quick assessment of the final performance benefit of this effort, I ran a couple of benchmarks at the various clockspeed settings along the way:
- 3DMark 2001 -- A widely used synthetic benchmark that is probably the closest thing to a "standard" of 3D rendering performance currently in use. The test uses the Direct3D graphic API, and is geared toward a "hardware T&L" card like the Geforce 3 on a system with DirectX 8 installed. The default 1024x768x32-bit color depth benchmark condition was used. If you don't have a copy of 3DMark 2001, you can get it at THIS LINK. Warning: it's a BIG download (38MB).
- Quake 3 Arena -- Another ubiquitous 3D benchmark, based upon a very popular game. This makes a nice compliment to 3DMark 2001, because it uses the OpenGL API, and is an actual game rather than a synthetic benchmark. To put a lot of stress on the video card, I ran it at 1600x1200x32-bit color depth using the "Quaver" demo, courtesy of The Reverend (a.k.a. Anthony Tan), formerly at VoodooExtreme. This demo is still available for download HERE (a German site). Even at these conditions, the GF3 Ti200 still pulled over 80 frames per second!
The results obtained are shown in the two bar graphs below. In both cases, and overall improvement of about 11% was seen in going from the 175/400 default settings to the final overclocked speeds of 240/525. For ZERO cost, that's a very nice increase. Consider for a moment that it would take an increase of between 20 - 25% in the CPU's clockspeed to give a similar boost, and this improvement looks even better! Kind of like replacing your Pentium 3 1GHz with a 1.2GHz processor for zip-zilch-nada! Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?
| Overclocking Performance Impact: 3DMark 2001 Default Test |
Overclocking Performance Impact: Quake 3 Arena "Quaver" Demo @ 1600x1200x32 |
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At right are the specifications for my system, for comparison sake. Note that, while not "state of the art" by any means, it's got a pretty quick processor, plenty of memory and a fast hard drive system. Don't expect to achieve numbers like this with a GF3 Ti200 on an old P2-266 with original components! On the other hand, if you're running a hot new motherboard with an Athlon XP 1900+ and PC2100 RAM, you'll kick my butt!
Well, that's about it, kiddies. In summary, the Geforce3 Ti200--especially the retail versions--offer great overclocking potential, and the possibility of achieving GF3 Ti500 performance levels at about half the cost. In my opinion, done correctly and carefully, there is very little risk to the card or your PC. Plus, if you're a hardware geek like me, IT'S FUN!! Now go read the "Disclaimer" box on PAGE ONE again, and give it a try!!
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Updated February 6, 2002
Questions or comments? E-mail me at THIS LINK |
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